161 results for tag: God’s love

The Ministry of Death OR The Ministry of Life

 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? —2 Corinthians 3:6-8 He looked at me and said, "It happened while I was in church. It was the end of the service, everyone was standing, and so was I. I was doing the same religious thing that everybody else was doing, the same religious ...

It’s Good to Be Alive

It's one of two times in the year when brick-and-mortar churches have their highest attendance. It's without a doubt the most meaningful time of the year for Christians, but Easter lilies, bunny rabbits, Easter hams, painted and chocolate eggs can take our attention away from the vital life-giving significance of this spiritual victory we celebrate every spring. Easter signals new life springing from what is seemingly dead and lifeless. Gray gives way to green. Ice melts and snow is replaced by the promise of buds and sprouts. Light overcomes darkness. The light and life that comes bursting from an empty tomb triumphs over death on the cross, a ...

Did Jesus’ Crucifixion Satisfy God’s Wrath?

An idyllic, beautiful setting surrounds a rambling country estate in rural England. It's 1935, and this pastoral setting provides the backdrop for the initial scene that plays out in Atonement. During the brief respite between the first and second World Wars, Cecilia Tallis, a rich young lady in her early twenties whose family owns the estate discovers she loves, and is loved by Robbie, a young man whose mother is the housekeeper at the Tallis home. As the love story begins, we are also introduced to Briony, Cecilia's younger sister. Briony is an aspiring writer who is, in her coming of age 13-year-old way, envious of the courtship enjoyed by ...

Love – No Fear

by Greg Albrecht Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.—1 Corinthians 13:4-8 1 Corinthians 13 is a chapter many have come to know as the "love chapter" of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13 is arranged in three separate sections, two of which we will briefly examine: The first section, in verses 1-3, is about love as being indispensable. If you've ever been to ...

Lighten Up – Trust Him – Be Free!

by Greg Albrecht Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will ...

Hope in Desperate Times

By Greg Albrecht— Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. —Proverbs 13:12 People often give up on God because they feel he didn't fulfill their expectations. And where, exactly, do people receive their education about what they can expect from God? If you answered "religious institutions" you get to pass "Go"— collect $200 and receive a "get out of religion free" card. One of the major sources of discontent with God is that many people do what they think God wants them to do because they expect him to make them feel good ("bless" is often used instead of "feel good"). And of course we all want to ...

The King Who Became a Man

by Greg Albrecht The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14, The Message). During his reign (1910-1936) King George V of the United Kingdom and the British Empire visited Leeds, a city in the north of England. When he was informed that a school was situated next to the railway line, King George agreed to have the train slow down so that he could appear on a platform and wave to the children as the royal entourage passed. When the king came outside the train he wore no outward signs of royalty, but was dressed in a suit, like any other male subject of his kingdom. After the train glided by and the cheers of ...

How Can Jesus Be 100% God + 100% Human?

Q: You have said the Bible does not teach a mixture of divine and human natures. Could they be joined in such a manner that it would be possible for Jesus Christ to die as both God and man? It is hard for me to believe these two natures were united in such a manner as to allow only the man in Jesus Christ to die. It is said the Son of God became flesh so he could suffer death for all men. Did God fail? You have also said that Jesus was and is God. "He always was God and always will be God," you once wrote. If the man in Jesus died and the soul of man was commended to God in heaven and the body of Jesus went to the grave, where was the God ...

Don’t Forget

by Greg Albrecht Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my innermost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.—Psalm 103:1-5 Every Friday night Eddie walked down to an old broken down pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida, walking slowly, slightly stooped over while carrying a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls flocked to the old man because almost every Friday night he provided ...

October 2020

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Brad Jersak: Faith Beyond Factions– pg. 3 Greg Albrecht: Jesus Invites Outsiders– pg. 6 Keith Giles: Attack of the "Love Buts" – pg. 10 Brian Zahnd: War of the Lamb – pg. 12 Greg Albrecht: Loving Sinners, Hating Sins? -pg. 15

How Free is Free Will?

by Greg Albrecht How much choice does any individual human actually have? We speak of "free will"—but how much of a choice to accept God's grace does anyone have, given the brainwashing and propaganda to which they are subjected? How much of a choice to accept God's grace does a young boy in a radicalized Muslim school have? How much of a choice to accept God's grace does someone have who is ensnared by some ultra fundamentalist church, where performance-based religion rules? Being in Christ is a divine invitation to an eternal relationship, open to everyone. But being in Christ is not an automatic, divinely bestowed or imposed gift. Being in ...

The Master’s Voice

by Greg Albrecht "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was ...

I Want to See

By Greg Albrecht— For the last time during his earthly ministry, Jesus was en route to Jerusalem. He had only a few days left in his earthly life—with every step he took toward Jerusalem he knew he was that much closer to the awful pain and suffering that awaited him. The road took him through Jericho, a city located about 17 miles northeast of Jerusalem. It was just before Passover—one of the three times in the year when pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts of the old covenant. So the road was crowded with travelers, and as a result there were many others alongside the road—small businessmen and entrepreneurs, as well as ...

Does God Forgive and Forget?

Q: While attending a Bible study one night in a church I used to attend the pastor stated, "when we ask forgiveness of God, he does forgive us but he never really does forget." He was "clarifying" Hebrews 10:17. The pastor said, "After all, he is God, he knows everything, it would be impossible for him to forget." I find myself angry at this minister even today and I haven't seen him in years. I believe God does forget—however in the back of my mind this minister's comments still haunt me. Please, tell me, does God forget or not? A: I think I know what the minister may have meant. Part of what he may have been trying to say might be true, but ...

September 2020

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Articles: The Overlooked and Ignored – pg. 1 Question the Question – pg. 2 God is Love – pg. 5 To Seek and Save that Which is Lost – pg. 6 The Prodigals – pg. 7 Quotes & Connections – pg. 8

Two Brothers

by Greg Albrecht Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "W...

How Far Will God Go For Love?

by Greg Albrecht Lending institutions place a cap or limit on the total amount of purchases you can charge to their card. They will only let you go so far before your credit runs out. How far can we go with God before he says to us "That's it—my grace has its limits!" Is it possible to use so much of God's love that our account will be "maxed out"? Of course God's mercy, grace and love are endless. As and when we request forgiveness, God will always forgive us. That's one of the attributes that makes him God. But, is it possible to take advantage of God's good graces? Surely he isn't like an indulgent grandparent who just sits on his throne, ...

Why Did Jesus Call a Woman a Dog?

by Greg Albrecht The Canaanites became mortal enemies of the Jews some 1,500 or so years before the time of Jesus when they resisted the new nation of Israel as it attempted to inhabit the Promised Land. Matthew 15:21-28 relates the story of a Canaanite woman who was so desperate to seek healing for her daughter that she defied social and religious conventions as she publicly spoke to Jesus (a man she didn't know) —beyond that, a Jewish man. We know, from everything else we read in the Gospels, that Jesus, God in the flesh, loved this woman, but it didn't seem that way to her when she first started talking to Jesus. She cries out, "Son of ...

Love or Justice?

by Greg Albrecht The discussion of eternal torment and the fate of the "unsaved" is often framed, by the law and order crowd, as a matter of God's love or his justice. Those who are intent on relegating those who, to their knowledge and satisfaction, have never heard or accepted their version of Christianity to eternal torture, often characterize those, like myself, who primarily look for answers based on God's love and grace, as soft-headed, soft-hearted and weak. So which is it—love or justice? Is God primarily a God of love or a God of justice? Here's what I see as the fundamental flaw in real, he-man, tough-as-nails Christianity: â€...

Browbeaten and Bullied at Church

by Greg Albrecht One of the most gratifying experiences we have at PTM is when we hear from someone for whom God has "turned on the light." By God's grace they realize their primary allegiance is not to a human religious authority. They realize that churches and church leadership are fellow-servants and laborers for the gospel—and that such organizations and authorities lose their credibility the moment they allow the gospel to be subverted by religion and its legalisms. The following letter is a wonderful example: I recently wrote an article about tithing for our church newspaper. My conclusion is the same as that of PTM—"­­tithing" is ...